Booked for Murder & Hostage to Murder by Val McDermid

Author:Val McDermid [McDermid, Val]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780802165541
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Published: 2018-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

3

Lindsay squirmed around in bed, trying to get comfortable. The weight of the duvet made her ankle ache, distracting her from the Denise Mina novel she was trying to read. “Can you bring me a couple of ibuprofen when you come through?” she called to Sophie, who seemed to be taking forever in the bathroom.

When she finally emerged and slipped into bed beside Lindsay, Sophie seemed unusually quiet. Lindsay swallowed the pills and put her book down. “Is something bothering you?” she said. “You’ve hardly said a word since dinner. Are you having second thoughts about me working with Rory?”

Sophie looked surprised. “No, not at all. Why should I?”

“No reason. But I couldn’t think why else you’d gone so quiet.”

Sophie sighed. “There’s something we need to talk about. I was going to bring it up earlier, but we were talking about your future and it just didn’t seem like the right moment.”

Lindsay eased herself on to her side and put an arm round Sophie’s waist. “That sounds ominous. I’ll never sleep now, you know. You’d better tell me what’s on your mind.”

Sophie lay back and stared at the ceiling, one hand on Lindsay’s encircling arm. “It’s the baby thing.”

Lindsay felt a pit opening in her stomach. Sophie’s desire for a child had been an intermittent bone of contention between them for the past couple of years. Whenever Sophie had tried to discuss it, Lindsay had either stonewalled or blanked it. She might not have much of a life plan, but she knew for certain that parenthood wasn’t part of it. So she’d worked on the principle that, if she ignored it, Sophie would eventually get the message and it would all go away. And inevitably, the attrition of time would render it academic. But since they’d come back to Scotland the subject had surfaced more regularly. Every few days, Sophie had raised the topic and Lindsay had tried to sidestep it. “You know how I feel about that,” she said.

“Yes. I know how you feel about that. But I don’t think you have the faintest idea how I feel about it. Lindsay, it’s all I think about,” Sophie said, anguish unmistakable in her voice. “Everywhere I go, all I seem to see are pregnant women and women pushing babies in prams. I’m so envious it makes me feel violent. I can’t even get away from it at work, because it’s what I deal with all day, every day.” Sophie blinked hard, and Lindsay couldn’t avoid seeing the sparkle of tears in her eyes. “Lindsay, I’m desperate. I’m nearly forty. Time’s running out for me. Already, the chances are that I’m not going to be able to conceive without some sort of clinical intervention. And there isn’t a fertility clinic in the whole of Scotland that will treat lesbian couples. Not even privately. If I’m going to have any possibility of a baby, I need to start doing something about it now.”

“Look, you’re broody, that’s all. It’ll pass. It always has before,” Lindsay said wretchedly.

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